By the Ocean

 I grew up in San Diego county

in a small town in the North County called Solana Beach.
I visited my family during spring break, and really

enjoyed my time by the ocean!

Tuesday

A cove called "Fletcher's Cove" is located in Solana Beach.
The ramp to the ocean was man-made during the time of its founding.
The above photo shows its early construction in 1924.
Water pressure from a local dam was used to create this ramp access to the beach.
http://www.ci.solana-beach.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=6BACDB03-96AC-47CC-9F5C-57082740FDAF&Type=B_BASIC

I had Ella, Autumn, and Amaya with me on the first day

I visited the ocean. They posed for their photos on the table

seen in the above photo.

We then walked down the over-view area.
The photo of the over-view area was taken on Saturday
before we left, but it is a nice place to visit the ocean
if the tides are high or you aren't ready to get sand in your shoes!

There are high bluffs along the coast line.

Ella, Autumn, and Amaya were happy

to get their photo taken from the over-look area!

Thursday

On Wednesday, we went to a local park.

On Thursday, we went to Einstein's Bagel Shop for breakfast.

I took Autumn with me. We went to the beach after breakfast.

I only had my cell phone for photos, but it was nice to sit in the sand.

I built a little sand pile in front of me.

Autumn said it was just her size!

When we walked over a bit, we found one that had

been made by someone who had the beach buckets

that create shapes. It reminded me of ancient ruins!

That was pretty cool, too!

Friday

On Friday, I went to the bluff overlook area with Amaya.

When I grew up here in the 1970's and 1980's, 

Solana Beach was much more of a post-hippie

middle class beach community. It is now an affluent

and expensive place to live. Many of the earlier ranch style houses

in the neighborhood where I grew up were demolished to create

larger, more architecturally diverse homes for an affluent population.

Saturday

My flight was not until later on Saturday afternoon,

so I took one more visit to the beach.
I took Ella with me to the beach.

It was a busier day, and so I parked on a residential hillside street.

The Fletcher Cove area with the bluff seating is also a part of the community center.

We watched the surfers from the bluff.

We walked down the path to the beach.

A family was having a birthday party for a child

at the area with the benches. One man was making large bubbles

for children

When I arrived, there was one child who was fascinated

in what he was doing. There was a large group

by the time I left.

More surfers and other visitors continued to arrive.

We also enjoyed the sandpiper!
They are not as frequently visible as the seagulls.

Ella asked through her cell phone photo

posted to Flickr
"Guess where I am?"

Yes, we know! We spent a lot of time here this week!
Ella had her time of reflection.

My video of the ocean:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/traveldollcompanion/26210935835/in/album-72157666344510622/

When I was ready to leave, I went to the artificial grass

above for a few more minutes, and to brush the sand off

my feet, bag, and clothes and to put my shoes back on.

Yes, it is time to leave our time at the beach.

It has been a wonderful week by the ocean!

Easter Sunday Hot Air Balloons

Early in the morning, I went to a favorite restaurant

across the street for take-out breakfast. They can get very busy

on any Sunday, but I figured they would get especially busy

on Easter Sunday, and should go early if I wanted a breakfast

from their restaurant.

My true benefit of going to breakfast early

is that I saw the hot air balloons rising near

their location.

There are several hot air balloon businesses here.

They host early morning and evening balloon rides most of the year,

but it turned into a special way to see and celebrate Easter.

My take-out breakfast got cold as I continued

to photograph the balloons in the parking lot

and at home across the street from this launch.

My favorite hot air balloon was the rainbow balloon.
What a beautiful symbol of spring to see the rainbow balloon in the sky

and the leaves growing a tree!

The hot air balloons became my morning connection

with consciousness rising and celebrating Easter

when I don't have children hunting for Easter eggs or receiving

Easter baskets.

I also don't go to church, but believe in the greater

ideas of rising consciousness and awakening with

awareness. The balloons became a beautiful

symbol of Easter for me as someone connecting

with the idea of Easter without baskets, eggs,

and a trip to a church service.

Then, I was sharing my hot air balloon photos on Facebook 

when I saw the photo posted below.

It was posted by a Facebook page called 

"Inhabitants of Burque" (Albuquerque). 

This pretty much explains the connection 

between hot air balloons and Easter Sunday!  

The sun continued to rise, and the hot air balloons

finished their early morning journey through the sky.

Ella has wanted to go outside for several days,

but we have had a lot of gusty winds.

She insisted we go out by mid-morning and not wait

to see if there would be more gusty winds this afternoon.

The bunny and marble egg became a part of her sharing

Easter with her online friends.

As we went through her clothes,
she told me that she would put on her pink shirt,

but she was not going to wear a dress.

Hmm... I don't think she has a complete dress

like a spring or Easter dress.
The pink shirt works for a spring adventure!

We walked around a little more.
The sky is blue and the trees are continuing

to turn green with spring.

Ella enjoyed her walk about with the green grass,

the blue sky, the blue egg,

and her bunny friend.

We wish you all a

Happy Easter!!!!

Okay, what are we going to do with the bunny?